It was just last year, but already it seems sort of quaint that the role of bloggers in the body politic was being belittled by the mainstream media. In this presidential election, political blogs... at least the big ones attracting the most internet traffic... have played a huge part in how this presidential campaign has unfolded.

I wrote a blog post three weeks ago when Mayor Bloomberg went public with his plan to overturn New York City’s term limits law, so he can run for a third term. Whatever you think of my opinions on the matter, I firmly stand by my final comments that “this isn’t going to be a slam dunk” for Bloomberg. (Wow, it’s fun quoting yourself!) Opposition has indeed sprung up from a number of places. But as you saw in the news today, a judge denied a legal effort to stop a city council vote on changing the term limits. That vote might take place as soon as Thursday, and since Speaker Christine Quinn supports Bloomberg on this, and since she probably wouldn’t schedule a vote unless the headcount was going her way, it might be a done deal (but with a likely possibility of after-the-fact legal challenges).

The pros and cons of the term limits issue are well known by this time, so let’s look instead at some of the psychological factors coursing through the electorate. Polls have shown New Yorkers favor term limits, which really shouldn’t be a surprise, since voters approved them twice during the 1990’s. But when asked if they want Mike Bloomberg to serve another four years, a majority say yes. Paradoxical, no? Well, yes, but also understandable. More after the jump.

Dear Mike,

May I call you Mike? It’s so much less formal. First of all, congrats on the term limits thing. Actually, that’s sort of what I wanted to write you about. I have some thoughts about your political future, and it doesn’t include you running for mayor again.